Strategies for Stress-Free Living

You have got the pieces, now it’s time to put it all together so you have a complete Mind and Body Maintenance Programme.  Just as you might spend 30 minutes a day taking care of your body by exercising, it’s important to take care of your mind too!

Here’s where it’s a good idea to focus:

1. Relaxation is the key.  Have you arrived at that place where you are doing something relaxing every day?  It doesn’t have to be a big thing.  For me, I make lip balms.  I absolutely love it and I feel relaxed whenever I put them on. 
2. Give your mind a mini break.  You don’t need to carry around an endless list of problems.  Put them in the suitcase so you can deal with them when you feel ready.  Carrying them around with you won’t solve your problems, it will just wear you out!
3. Where are you keeping your tension?  Check in with your body every day to strengthen that mind and body connection.
4. When you find a tense area, get that tension out.  You can use creative visualisation exercises, like the ones in my programme, Reduce Your Stress – Your 7-Day Turnaround Programme.  Or try out some body therapies or ayurvedic therapies such as shirodhara (tension melts from your mind as soothing warm oil is poured over your forehead).
5. Notice your triggers.  How does your body feel before you get stressed?
6. Catch those trigger thoughts by noticing how you are feeling.  Change those thoughts and you stop stress at its source.
7. Build in helpful rituals.  Check out your relationships.  Who can you talk to?  How do you problem solve or share issues?  Monitor your food and fluid intake.  Check out my special report on stress busting foods for more information on this one.

We are not here to have no stress.  We are here to learn and to grow.  Learning and growing involves short bursts of stress and challenge, followed by down-time where we relax, regenerate and integrate.  Not learning is a stress in itself.  Leaping from one stress to another stress is chronic stress and really is not helpful. 

The trick is to make sure that you are not chronically stressed - that’s when you wear yourself out and create or exacerbate health issues. 

By building in these tools and strategies, you can enjoy stress-free living.

Tags: Focus and Meaning, Reduce Your Stress Programme, Relaxation, Stress Related Illness // 2 Comments »